Stephen Lendman

On Saturday, Kim Jong-un addressed North Korea’s Second Plenum of the Seventh Central Committee of the Workers Party.

According to Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), he said “nuclear weapons of the DPRK are a precious fruition borne by its people's bloody struggle for defending the destiny and sovereignty of the country from the protracted nuclear threats of the US imperialists.”

“And they are a powerful deterrent firmly safeguarding the peace and security in the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia…guaranteeing the Korean nation’s sovereignty and rights to existence and development…”

He noted the DPRK’s technological advances “despite the escalating sanctions of the US imperialists and their vassal forces.”

He accused Washington of “making last-ditch efforts to completely stifle the sovereignty and the rights to existence and development of the DPRK by cooking up UNSC (UN Security Council) sanction resolutions one after another.”

He “affirmed that the prevailing situation and the reality show that our (Workers) Party was absolutely right when it dynamically advanced along the socialist road of Juche (self-reliance), holding fast to the line of simultaneously pushing forward the economic construction and the building of nuclear force and that our Party should invariably keep to this road in the future…”

On the same day, Trump suggested possible military action against North Korea, stoking tensions further, distancing himself from administration officials, Brussels, China and Russia, urging diplomacy to resolve contentious issues.

Trump rules it out, tweeting: “Presidents and their administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25 years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid…hasn’t worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings (sic) fools of US negotiators. Sorry, but only one thing will work!”

He didn’t explain what money he meant. His hostile threat followed earlier ones. Is he bluffing or serious?

Asked to clarify his comments, he said “(w)ell, you’ll figure that out pretty soon.” On Thursday, he said we’re witnessing “the calm before the storm,” again saying “you’ll find out” when asked what he meant.

Earlier, National Security Advisor McMaster said “we have to…prepare all options (including a military option) because the president has made clear to us that he will not accept a nuclear power in North Korea and a threat that can target the United States and target the American population.”

No DPRK threat exists, its nuclear and ballistic missiles solely for defense, not offense. Its government considers hostile Trump tweets and remarks declarations of war.

He rebuffed Rex Tillerson’s comments in China last month, saying “(w)e have lines of communications to Pyongyang.”

“We’re not in a dark situation or a blackout. We have a couple of direct channels to Pyongyang. We can talk to them…We’ve made it clear that we hope to resolve this through talks.”

Trump dismissively tweeted he was “wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man, adding “(s)ave your energy Rex. We’ll do what has to be done.”

Possible war on the Korean peninsula going nuclear should scare everyone. Millions of regional lives would be endangered.

Pyongyang will continue developing its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, fearing possible US aggression.

It’s unclear how Washington will respond. The threat of war on the Korean peninsula remains an ominous possibility.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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